August 2017 entries

Aug 29, 2017

I'm so excited!!! September 1st is on the horizon . . . and that means you get to order from the absolutely beautiful and exciting NEW 2017 Holiday Occasions Catalog!! There is so much to see in this catalog and so much fun on the horizon that I can hardly contain my excitement!! Did you get your catalog in your mailbox safe and sound?? Oh My Goodness!! Did you say NO?? Eeeeeeeek!! Don't miss out on this beautiful new catalog. Sign up for a new Holiday Catalog under my Catalog Request button on the right-hand side of the blog page!! Don't wait another minute!! I'll pop one into the mail to you Right Away!! 🙂

Before we wind up the August Promotions -- here's a little Sneak Peak to get your creative excitement building . . .

ONLY A FEW DAYS LEFT! There are only 2 days left to redeem your Bonus Coupons that you earned during July. All Bonus Coupons expire at midnight on August 31st. So get your last minutes orders in today!!! Here are the details as a reminder:

Click on the Image Above to see how to Redeem your Bonus Days Coupons at check out in the Online Store.

Details:

There is no limit on the number of coupons participants can use on an order during redemption.

Bonus Days coupon codes can be redeemed for any product, excluding Starter Kits, Demonstrator Supply Items, and Paper Pumpkin subscriptions. New prepaid Paper Pumpkin codes can be discounted with Bonus Days coupons.

TIME IS ALMOST UP FOR YOUR OPPORTUNITY TO GET CAROLS OF CHRISTMAS EARLY!!

There is also only 2 days left to order the beautiful Carols of Christmas bundle! Get it before the Catalog goes live on Friday and you can make sure you avoid any Backorders. Save 10% by purchasing the bundle - or order just the stamp set or just the dies - it's your choice!!

It's the perfect time to cash in those Bonus Days Coupons !! The Item #s are listed in the grid above -- pop into my Online Store today and place that order!!

IT'S TIME TO SHARE!!

It's time to share everyone - Product Shares that is . . . for the new Holiday Catalog!! We have already filled several I Want It All Share Groupings. Jump in and reserve a spot for yourself today!! First Product Share grouping orders go in this weekend.**

Want to know more about how a Product Share works? Check out all the details HERE - then contact me today with your reservation.

Fine Print: Shares already billed out and intended to be ordered on Sept 1st will be held one to two extra days to accommodate those enduring Hurricane Harvey flooding in Texas.

FALL INTO SAVINGS AND SAVE HALF!!

Are you one of those folks that has hesitated to sign up for Paper Pumpkin? Don't wait any longer!! Your chance to save 50% off the regular price for your first month subscription will expire on September 10th. And the September kit promises to be a wonderFALL kit full of surprises!! You can learn more about Paper Pumpkin HERE.

And Use Promo Code HALFOFF0917 by September 10th to take advantage of this fantastic special!

Aug 28, 2017

I am sure that many of you are wondering where I have been for the past 10 days. In short, I took a very sudden and unplanned, but very badly needed break.

Some of you who are closest to me know my situation of the past 8 to 10 months, and the incredible strain I have been under regarding my job. If you have read my biography, you know that I work for Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company here in the southwest area of Jefferson County, Colorado. As is the nature of government contractors, programs and contracts ebb and flow, and this can cause "offloads" of employees as contracts wind down. My situation has been complicated by the fact that I have had one of the worst and most difficult bosses I have ever had in my working career. Technically I should not have been "offloaded" from the program I was currently assigned to until the end of 2018 or early 2019; but this gentleman saw fit to try to start getting rid of me last summer already, simply because he does not like me and saw no need to keep me around. I have been struggling for over 8 to 10 months now to locate another assignment/job within the Denver-Waterton campus, and would have found myself "on the street" quite some months ago already had it not been for good people whom I have known a lot of years that stepped up to help me over these difficult months. The situation came to a head during the week of August 14th, and I had to reach out to a Systems Engineering Director to keep from finding myself unemployed. By the Grace of God, I have found a "knight in shining armour" who has seen fit to move me away from the "bad boss" and get me under the protection of someone else who will have my back and help me as I continue to look for a permanent position.

Needless to say, the stress level and anxiety I have been undergoing has taken its toll. I simply could not do anything this past week except try to rest and try to wrap my mind around all I've been through. Creativity has alluded me for some time, and the last thing I wanted to do was go into the Studio and do anything at all. The rest and down time has been much needed. So I appreciate your patience and kindness. Some of you have reached out to check on me, and I am so grateful to know you care. I'm starting to feel a little better and a little more normal, so we will ease back into things here this week, and try to start finding a little excitement for the new catalog that is releasing on Friday! This is a fabulous time of year, and I certainly want to be a part of it and share with all of you. So please continue to be patient, and I promise we'll step into the Fall season and find our creative streak once again!!

So ease back into the week we will. I decided to create a pretty little card for today's blog post; one that had been swimming around in my head for the past 2 weeks and uses some new designer series paper that I am over the moon for. Today we start some sneak peaks of my favorite fall set in the 2017 Holiday Occasions Catalog 😉

I am over the moon for the Painted Autumn suite in the new Holiday Occasions Catalog. Most of you should have received your catalogs by now -- and you can find this beautiful suite of products on pages 48-49. The Painted Autumn designer series paper collection is absolutely to die for!! Today's card features "fussy cutting" from this paper.

Can you believe how pretty this paper is? If you want to see it a little closer, see my Sneak Video from a couple weeks ago -- you can view that on YouTube Here.

Thinking you'd love to have some of that paper to look at it closer? Now is the time to snag a spot in a Product Share -- and you can touch, feel, and play with all the new papers without having to break your pocket book. Check out my 2017 Holiday Occasions Catalog Product Shares HERE.

This card base is cut from Thick Whisper White cardstock; and has layers in Tangerine Tango (the matting), and Peekaboo Peach.

The Peekaboo Peach layer was embossed with the Sweetheart Textured Impressions Embossing Folder (TIEF). This is my first time using this folder, and I just LOVE it!!

The center heart was cut from watercolor paper -- and this is true fun watercoloring here.

First I stamped the sentiment from the Colorful Seasons stamp set using Versamark; then embossed with Copper embossing powder.

Then I used 4 fabulous ink colors and an AquaPainter to create this fabulous watercolored heart ~

This kind of "washed" watercoloring is literally about lots of water and picking up and dropping your color and letting it move as it will with the water, with minimal help from you. It is so pretty!! These colors were hard to pick up well with the camera and get the photo software to show in "true color" - I'm not really sure why. But this card is so pretty in person.

You can see that I "swished" some Lemon Lime Twist 1/2" Finely Woven Ribbon in the background; then popped my heart over the top of that with dimensionals.

Finally -- it was all about fussy cutting this gorgeous sunflower out of the designer series paper; it is also popped with dimensionals. So pretty!! I added a few Gold Faceted Gems for fun!

Turn to the Inside ~

This inside of this card just seems to compliment the outside beautifully and simply.

This "wonderful" sentiment is from Just Add Text and is stamped in Peekaboo Peach ink.

Another wonderful flower has been fussy cut from the designer paper and laid in the corner with SNAIL.

It did not take me that long to cut these little flowers out -- and the WOW factor is well worth it!!

You really could create this card with any color background you wanted - it would look equally pretty in a yellow or even a green - just change out the ribbon.

I encourage you to experiment -- and remember that you can order your Product Shares from me today ! And the new catalog goes live for you to get your hands on all the new goodies on Friday!!

We'll be back tomorrow to wind up the month of August and all our current promotions; and then we're going to skip Wednesday's blog post this week. So I'll see you on Thursday for some more sunflower fun!! 😉

Aug 17, 2017

It's Thursday! And time to CASE a wonderful sample from the Stampin' Up! Annual Catalog. This week we're playing with the This Little Piggy stamp set and I just love this adorable little set.

You may have noticed I didn't have a post yesterday with the promised Class With Wendy video. Things did not go as expected here at DDS Studios earlier this week; so we'll play catch up on the video later, okay?? I promise!! 😉

So let's play today!! Are you ready? Turn to page 48 in your Annual Catalogs, and take a look at the sample at the very top of the page . . . and let's see how today's sample turned out compared to that one!!

Soooooooooo Cuuuuttte!! Can you hear me squealing over here?? LOL

My version of the sample on page 48 is what I call a "stepped up" version. The design in the catalog is fairly simple; this one has a little more detail and layering.

Note the difference between using a blender pen and an aquapainter when working your watercoloring.

The pink piggy on the bottom, for example, of my sample was colored using a blender pen; whereas the pink piggy at the top with the spots was watercolored using an aquapainter. You get a softer more washed look with your aquapainter. Be sure not to use too much water or "over color" when working on Whisper White cardstock - it "pills" easily!

[This picture shows the glimmer of the Clear Wink of Stella I finished off the piggies with]

4. Fussy cut your piggies using your Paper Snips (or scissors of your choice). They don't take too long to cut out; just take some care around the tails and tips of the hooves.

5. Stamp the flying piggy image in Archival Basic Gray ink on the Whisper White cardstock layering you set aside as such: The first image at the top with the sentiment; then the second and third images ink up only the pig image NOT the sentiment portion. You will stamp the " . . . So She Did" sentiment from the stamp set separately by the bottom piggy image. This gives you the "outline" of where you will be laying your fussy cut piggies and helps give them some depth.

6. Tie a piece of ribbon of your choice down the left side of the layers. I pulled out some leftover Smoky Slate 1/8" stitched ribbon from last year. This is retired now; but I have a fair amount leftover and tucked away. It worked perfectly here. We're going to tie a faux knot/bow once we have our piggies in place.

7. Adhere the layer to the card base with SNAIL.

8. Now attach your fussy cut piggies using dimensionals (approximately 3 dimensionals on the back of each piggy), and arrange them in any order you like.

9. Finish off your piggies in style with a nice adornment of pearls -- so fun!!

Wondering how difficult today's sample is? It's Not!! So don't be intimidated. You can always do the simpler sample in the catalog which is just stamped right to the card front and watercolored there. But if you like to fussy cut, and have a little patience, you can step this sample up very easily and have a fabulous "wow" card design! I hope my sample has inspired you today to try new things and step outside your comfort zone. Be sure to use our wonderful Catalog to inspire your card making and paper crafting! It's a wonderful resource!!

Aug 15, 2017

It's time once again for our weekly round-up and reminder of all the promotions and specials going on at Stampin' Up! and DDS Studios right now. Let's take a look at our weekly reminders and promotions. 😉

THERE'S A NEW CATALOG COMING! THERE'S A NEW CATALOG COMING! READ ALL ABOUT IT!! Yes indeed! The 2017 Holiday Occasions Catalog shipped out last week and should be arriving in a mailbox near you very soon! If you are one of my regular customers, you be receiving your catalog automatically. If you are looking for a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator, just sign up for a new Holiday Occasions Catalog on the Catalog Request button on the upper right-hand side of my blog page. You are going to love all the new products and you won't want to miss a single beautiful page of this new catalog.

READY. SET. ORDER!! All those wonderful Bonus Days Coupons you earned during July, it's time to cash those in. You can redeem your Bonus Days Coupons during the month of August. Remember, those coupons expire by August 31st. Here's some details for your information:

Click on the Image Above to see how to Redeem your Bonus Days Coupons at check out in the Online Store.

Details:

There is no limit on the number of coupons participants can use on an order during redemption.

Bonus Days coupon codes can be redeemed for any product, excluding Starter Kits, Demonstrator Supply Items, and Paper Pumpkin subscriptions. New prepaid Paper Pumpkin codes can be discounted with Bonus Days coupons.

AND NOW IT'S YOUR TURN FOR AN EARLY PRE-ORDER!!

Want to a chance to order new product before the catalog is released just like the demos do?? Now is your chance!! Order the beautiful Carols of Christmas bundle today!! You can order the items separately, or save 10% by purchasing the bundle - it's your choice!

It's the perfect time to cash in those Bonus Days Coupons and buy your verey own Bundle -- you can certainly buy the stamp set and dies separately; but why would you?? Save 10% and buy the set today!!! The Item #s are listed in the grid above -- pop into my Online Store today and place that order!! This set is going to be very popular!

IT'S TIME TO SHARE!!

It's time to share everyone - Product Shares that is . . . for the new Holiday Catalog!! The Product Share offering is now up and active and I am taking orders as we speak. In fact, several have already contacted me and reserved a spot; so don't wait!!! Space is limited and you won't want to miss these beautiful products.

Want to know more about how a Product Share works? Check out all the details HERE - then contact me today with your reservation.

Fine Print: Shares will be billed out after August 25th; with the first orders going in on September 1st.

FALL INTO SAVINGS AND SAVE HALF!!

Are you one of those folks that has hesitated to sign up for Paper Pumpkin? Don't wait any longer -- This month you can sign up for a new month-to-month subscription and save 50% off the regular price!! Now that's a deal!! You can learn more about Paper Pumpkin HERE.

And Use Promo Code HALFOFF0917 beginning August 11th through September 10th to take advantage of this fantastic special!

IT'S A SALE!!!

Oooooo - I just LOVE a sale, don't you??

It's time for Stampin' Up! to clear the closets in preparation for the new season; so hop on over to the Clearance Rack today!! It's been newly loaded up and has all sorts of wonderful goodies!

Aug 14, 2017

Happy Monday! It's beginning to feel like Summer is winding down around here. Some of our school districts across the Front Range start going back to school this week, and the wave of schools opening their doors for the new school year will continue over the next two weeks. Kind of hard to believe!! Where DID the Summer go?!?

It was a crazy busy weekend for me. Kind of caught me by surprise; as some weekends I successfully achieve some peace and quiet and restful time. Not so much this weekend! Busy busy - running errands, fun excursions, and a busy day yesterday with a fun class focused on our Color Theory Suite of products - Colorful Seasons bundle . We had a lot of fun!!

Now it's off and running to another busy week at work and keeping up with tasks around the house! Let's kick things off with a fun fold card today on Mix-It Up Mondays!! 🙃

I have to thank one of my customers yesterday who inspired me for today's post idea.

I wasn't sure what I was going to do yet for this week's Mix-It Up! But Trish always brings "show and tell" to class and I instantly knew what I was going to do for today's post!!

This is a fun fold I had not yet tried, but it gaining momentum in recent years as a popular fold.

I've done the Gate Fold Card before; but never the Diagonal Gate Fold ~ so fun!! And not that difficult.

I will do a Class With Wendy video on this fun card - so stay tuned!!

I also had not yet inked up my This Little Piggy stamp set. Can you believe that??? And such an adorable set. I've really been wanting to play with this cute stamp set.

I used some wonderful designs out of the Whole Lot of Lovely designer series paper for today's card - and combined them with Crumb Cake and Powder Pink cardstocks for a wonderful color combination.

When you open the card, it's just cute! I love this!!

I stamped the little cloud images in Pool Party across the inside panel and around the sentiment in Powder Pink.

You can see when the card is open how the circle rotates and lays perfectly.

My little piggy has been playing in the garden . . . so he's a little "dirty" -- LOL

I used stampin' write markers to color the stamp - Powder Pink for the piggy, Lemon Lime Twist for the grass, and Basic Gray for the words.

Once stamped, I used a sponge dauber to rub a little Soft Suede on my piggy, and also sponged a little Powder Pink (especially in the ears). He's so cute!! LIOL

I also added Clear Wink of Stella all over my piggy - so he just shimmers with fun!!

A few scattered pearls across the designer paper finish off a fun look to this card.

I love the combined paper designs; and the Layering Circle framelits, make it so easy to create the front of this card.

Here is the card standing up - you can kind of see here how the folds come together when opening and closing.

This is a fabulous fun way to create a card. I'll step through more details in my Class With Wendy virtual class video. I assure you, that YOU too can make this card!! What a fun card to give someone! This Little Piggy is one of our new stamp sets in the Annual Catalog. It's a "must have" on my list of favorite things. You can shop my Online Store and get your set today!! We'll play more with this stamp set later this week!

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Disclaimer(s)

Disclaimer(s)

The content of this blog is the sole responsibility of Wendy Klein, an independent Stampin' Up! demonstrator. The use of and content of any posts, classes, services, or products offered is not endorsed by Stampin' Up!
From time to time I may use non-Stampin' Up! products in my creations. I will list these items in my recipe lists for your knowledge, but I am not marketing these items in any way for sale or otherwise, and cannot sell you any of these items. If you like something you see, you will need to locate the distributor of that item on your own and purchase that item from that entity separately.